Meet the
TeamCobalt Investment Partners is built on a deep foundation of local relationships combined with business and market insight. With a history of success investing in commercial real estate, we know the key owners and users. Our deep knowledge of the submarket’s specific trends allows us to identify gaps in underserved segments of the market. This understanding enables us to acquire under-valued properties and reposition them to better serve the changing needs within the community, while at the same time capturing significant gains for our partners.
The team behind Cobalt has a history of success investing in commercial real estate, enabling the firm to search and identify off-market opportunities before they are listed on the open market. Together we work to make the Bay Area a better place. Our investors sleep better at night knowing their investment is safe and acting as a positive force for change.
Robert Hefty, Ph.D.
Robert founded Cobalt Investment Partners in 2017 and oversees all of the investment projects.
Robert is passionate about finding the best deals for our partners. He believes in maintaining open accessibility to all of our partners across the experience spectrum. He also carries forward an entrepreneurial approach to business development, providing mentorship and advice to our local business partners and the commercial real estate investing community in general.
He spent the first 15 years of his career working in customer support, business development, and operations in the technology sector for Lam Research Corp. Responsible for developing the pricing strategy for all products for several customers, he was a key contributor to their rise from $500 million per year in annual revenue to over $11 billion by the time he transitioned out to focus on real estate.
Robert played men’s volleyball for UCSB, where he was the 1998 Big West Student-Athlete of the Year. He received his bachelor’s degree from the College of Creative Studies. Following his successful career in college athletics, he earned a PhD in Physical Chemistry from MIT in 2003. He continues to use his creative problem-solving skills and insight in inter-related systems both in his business and on the water, spending a portion of the summer off the coast of Southern California hunting for tuna and striped marlin
Simon Baird
Simon acts as the operations director and leads investor communications for Cobalt Investment Partners, leveraging his bevy of past experience.
Simon’s path to Cobalt comes through the world of residential investment and property management. Working as the operations manager at WayPoint Equity Partners and Urban Pioneer in San Francisco, Simon helped to grow and manage a portfolio of over 1,000 multi-family residential units. Working during the financially challenging period of the late 2000s gave Simon valuable insight into working within slim budgets and tight constraints.
He took a brief hiatus from commercial real estate to build a nationally recognized and awarded orthodontic office with his wife, quickly achieving Diamond+ status as a top 1% Invisalign provider. After successfully launching and stabilizing a now thriving practice, he decided to return to the familiar and stimulating world of real estate investing.
Outside of the office, Simon enjoys an eclectic range of hobbies and interests. When not enjoying a fine bourbon, he can be found trail running or backpacking through the hills of the Bay Area, vaulting and swinging over obstacles at local spartan races, or spending quiet time cooking, reading, or building legos with his children. He earned a BS in managerial economics from UC Davis.
Daniel Plouffe
Daniel drives the analytics and helps to develop the overall investment strategy within Cobalt Investment Partners, making valuable contributions to deal sourcing, creative use of new space, and return analysis.
Daniel’s curated business acumen, relentless drive to search for undervalued deals, and analysis capabilities are valuable contributions to Cobalt’s mission. He has been outperforming the broader investment market for years.
After earning his Bachelor’s from the University of Michigan, Daniel spent his early days in investment banking on Wall Street, on railroads in Omaha, and a self-employed stint running his own computer repair shop. His longest tenure was with ASML, where he helped grow their cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing technology business from its infancy to producing the world’s latest iPhone and laptop chips.
In 2020, he fully exited the corporate world to lean further into real estate investing, moving from San Diego to the Bay Area to earn his MBA in Real Estate Development from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Prior to Cobalt Investments, Daniel worked for a multifamily real estate developer in San Francisco analyzing projects all across the SF Bay Area and assisted in the entitlement of a 27-story tower in SoMa. He is regularly traveling the world, finding the best ski slopes and off-roading in the mountains.
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